NFL
By: Brock Vierra
Zion Williamson is not worth it. If you have the opportunity to trade for Zion, it’s not worth it. Zion will demand a trade whose value will be greater than Rudy Gobert’s while on a 190 million dollar contract, giving you the same amount of basketball production as me. He is a victim of the media, a martyr of the word potential. A man crowned by the world before he has even earned an All-NBA selection might be on his way to a fresh start but the lofty expectations that come with a big move may once again be too much for the big man.
In his three seasons in the league, the young 22-year-old has failed to participate in over 50 percent of games played by the Pelicans since he was drafted. He even came into the league hurt from an injury that kept him out from participating in Duke’s final six games of the regular season and his injury was clearly aggravated via overuse during Duke’s postseason contests. He got hurt again and sparsely competed in summer league activities before finishing his rookie campaign with only 24 games played.
Now don’t get me wrong. Williamson is a generational player who when healthy, is a scoring threat and playmaker. Averaging 25.8 points in his young career would be enough to make GM’s jump on the Blue Devil but doing that while averaging 7 rebounds and close to 4 assists a game makes up the stat line of a future Hall of Famer. However, if numbers and results told the entire story of the NBA, we might be crowning Kawhi Leonard as the best player in the league. However, Kawhi’s extensive injury history and his use of load management have directly resulted in criticism of the man who turned Toronto into a title town.
Now if Williamson was headed to a team that was one player away and had a nice bench, then Williamson would be a perfect fit but with Portland and Charlotte being front runners for his services, two teams that have explosive point guards that are limited by the talent around them, those teams need someone whose gonna be on the court for 82 games, not the 38 that Williamson is averaging.
His lack of playtime is concerning enough but now with off-the-field issues plaguing both Zion’s personal life, it’s now an even more substantial investment that you’re pouring into someone that probably won’t pay off. Now I get the argument for those teams to acquire him. Those teams aren’t able to acquire All-Star players due to the small market nature of those franchises so it’s not like they’ll get another shot to add someone of Zion’s potential.
However, to get rid of the draft picks required to acquire Williamson would be a massive gross misuse of capital, so irresponsible to wager a future that you might not be around for that it would call for someone’s head. Listen it sounds like I’m bashing Williamson. I’m not. I am a fan of his. I enjoy his game, I like to watch him play and I root for him. I support Williamson so much that in the 2019 NCAA Tournament, Buzz Williams and Virginia Tech almost gave me a heart attack with a last-second lob that fortunately got left on the rim.
My feelings do not matter. This isn’t about how I feel, this is about business and unless you’re Steve Balmer, it’s not common practice to commit your future to players with injury histories. For Charlotte, you have time to get more pieces, especially with Michael Jordan selling the team. For Portland, was the promise of Brandon Roy and Greg Odom not enough?
Is it not enough to have the perfect team on paper that never played together on the court? Was it not enough to waste Travis Outlaw, Rasheed Wallace, and LaMarcus Aldridge? Does Zion’s full workup not paint a clear picture that you won’t have an everyday player?
If rumors are true and Zion is done with the Pelicans, then time is your friend if you operate a franchise outside of New Orleans. The best ability is availability and as of right now, Zion isn’t available to suit up for anyone. All I say is wait and whatever you do, do not give up the house for him. You can give up Jusuf Nurkic though.
